


Long Way to Go

by books_entertain_the_mind



Series: I Can't Change the World, but I Can Change Yours [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, May Parker Deserves To Be Happy, Parent May Parker (Spider-Man), Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29592282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/books_entertain_the_mind/pseuds/books_entertain_the_mind
Summary: "You're my main thing, you're my personBut you already knowAnd I'm sorry if I don't always show thatBut we'll never be down workingAnd that don't mean we let goIt's not the fighting but the quiet that hurts meWe're keeping it togetherWe're not running outta roadDifferent scenes, different weatherThank God we got ourselves a long way to go"- Long Way to Go by Maggie RosePeter's missing and Tony and May are struggling to keep it together while trying to find their son. Life hasn't been easy since Tony and May started dating, but the Parker-Starks are determined to stick together through it all.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Pepper Potts, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man)/Tony Stark, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper/OC, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: I Can't Change the World, but I Can Change Yours [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1459375
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Long Way to Go

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go! Here's the sequel to Learn to Live Again! I'm super excited for this story and I hope y'all really enjoy it! 
> 
> My goal is to do an update at least once every other week, but as the last story showed, who know's what life will throw in the way haha. 
> 
> And thank you to jwriter819 for the inspiration for this chapter!

_May took a step toward her boyfriend, worried. Happy would have just dropped Peter off and as much as she prayed it wasn’t true, there was a weight settling in her stomach, telling her that whatever was wrong had something to do with her son._

_Apparently the conversation was a short one, as she watched Tony finish talking, but he didn’t move a muscle, the phone still held up. “Tony?” May asked, the worry rising as the weight sank lower._

_Tony turned back to May, lowering the phone from his ear. She apprehensively watched him, waiting to tell her what was going on. “Tony? What did Happy say?”_

_Tony just blinked. “Peter’s gone. Someone took him.”_

* * *

The creak of the door echoes as Tony makes his way through the front door. The house is dark without any of the lights on, and the silence the superhero walks into is more suffocating than the panic and fear he left at the Tower.

Tony quietly walked through the entrance hallway, his footsteps louder than he ever remembered being, the emptiness of the house being all the more prominent. Despite being minorly flooded only days ago, the house was clean and showed no evidence that distastor happened whatsoever. The air was stale but not musty from water. Dust glittered in the few handfuls of rays of light that braved coming through the windows, casting shadows in their wake.

Tony slowed down and took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions at bay. Every sound he made was ten times louder in the stifling silence. He couldn’t hear Smudge trying to make his kitten demands known; he couldn’t hear May shuffling around in their shared home office; and Peter’s laughs as he talked to his friends was glaringly absent. All Tony could hear was his heavy and faltering footsteps as he trudged through the once lively house.

Tony couldn’t help but look around and see flashes of memories. He saw Peter sitting on the couch with Anna and Luca, looking both embarrassed and happy to be with his grandparents. He saw himself and May in the kitchen, teasing Peter about his relationship with MJ. He saw Rhodey, Happy, Bruce, David, standing and laughing with himself on the back porch by the grill.

He slowly made his way up the stairs and couldn’t help but think about the first time Peter used his webs to swing from the balcony to the first floor, giving May a heart attack in the process. As the billionaire continued through the hallway upstairs, he saw other memories. He and May cuddled in their little reading nook, _Casino Royale_ opened between them, Peter playing with Smudge the first night the kitten was in their house, and their small family all curled around each other in Tony and May’s bed, eating popcorn and watching a movie late at night.

Tony blinked and found himself in the doorway to Peter’s room. It looked untouched, exactly like it did when they left for the weekend to avoid a busted water heater. That day felt like it happened months ago now. The teen’s bed was only half made, papers and books were strewn across the desk in the corner. The laundry hamper had clothes both in it and around it, and there were several shelves that held completed Lego creations that Peter and Ned worked on through the years.

Without evening stopping to think, Tony made his way into the room and curled up on Peter’s bed. He grabbed a pillow and hugged it close, wishing and praying with his entire being that when he opened his eyes, it would be his son in his arms instead. As much as he knew that would never work, the disappointment and sadness that gripped Tony when he did opened his eyes brought down every wall he built up and he just _broke._

Tony couldn’t handle being at the Tower any longer. Pepper finally forced May down to her own floor for a shower and some sleep, but as much as Rhodey tried, the man couldn’t force Tony to do the same. Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep until Peter was back. He finally had enough of everyone trying to _“help”_ and had to get away. He grabbed the first pair of keys he could get his hands on and just left.

Tony hadn’t really paid attention to where he was driving, he just needed to be on the move. He surprised himself when he ended up at the gated entrance to their neighborhood. Without hesitation, he punched his code in and kept driving. He pulled up to their house, in a daze, and ended up in his son’s bedroom, finally letting himself breakdown and feel everything that’s happened.

* * *

It’s been three days since he listened to Happy’s voice over the phone, telling him that his son had been taken. Three days since his whole world fell off its axis.

Happy had called him, telling Tony that he had dropped Peter off at their designated spot for his Spider-Man patrols, and as soon as he pulled away, he caught, in his rearview mirror, a black van parking near the alley Peter walked into. Before Happy could do anything, he watched two guys in black tactical gear carry a limp and what looked to be, an unconscious Peter into the van.

As soon as he could, Happy turned the car and started following the van as it drove away. He had no way of stopping them, aside from trying to crash their car, but the man didn’t want to potentially risk hurting Peter. He sped after them for as long as possibly, calling Tony while he drove. He told the billionaire everything and that he was still chasing them, trying to keep eyes on the van for as long as possible. He gave the license plate numbers to his boss, and focused on trying to get to Peter.

As soon as Tony told May what Happy had said, all hell broke loose. The couple had momentarily forgotten that the Rogues were right there with them, and as soon as they heard Tony, they wanted to jump in and help. Tony ignored them as much as he could, grabbing May and running for the elevator. He called out to Friday to tell Rhodey and Vision what happened, he told May to call Pepper and then ran to the balcony, Friday having already called a suit to him.

Tony flew as fast as he could to Happy, but by the time he had gotten to his friend, the van had been lost to New York traffic. Friday ran the plates, but they came up as stolen, which surprised neither man. The AI tracked the van as much as possibly through traffic cameras, but they ultimately lost it.

When Tony arrived back at the Tower, May greeted him, fear evident in her eyes. Without a word, Tony just shook his head, angry with himself at the fact that he could get to Peter before they lost the van. “I’m sorry, May,” he whispered, trying to keep the rage of emotions at bay. “We lost them. Friday tracked them as long as she could, but they just fell off the radar.”

May didn’t say anything, she just lunged forward and pulled Tony into a tight hug. She buried her head into the crook of his neck and shook with silent sobs. Tony held her tight, but refused to let his own tears fall.

After a minute, the elevator dinged, and the couple looked up to see Rhodey, Pepper, David, and Bruce running over to them. Friday must have updated them already as Pepper just pulled May into a hug, and Rhodey did the same for Tony.

“We’ll get him back,” Rhodey promised, pulling away from his brother to look at everyone.

Happy was late to join, but he came up once he drove back to the Tower. If Tony was mad, Happy was doubly mad and guilty at himself. “I’m so sorry,” were the first words out of his mouth. It was all his fault Peter was taken. If he had just paid more attention or drove faster…

May broke him out of his spiral of self-deprecation. “It’s not your fault, Happy. You tried to save him, and that’s all I care about.”

Rhodey looked back to Tony. “What’s the plan?”

Tony closed his eyes and took a breath. “Friday’s still scanning security and traffic cams for any sight of the van. We ran the plates, but they’re stolen so that’s a dead end. I need to see if Peter’s phone or watch are with him. Those are going to be our best chances of finding him.”

Rhodey nodded. “I’ll send Vision out to do some patrols, see if he can find the van while we try and track it from here.” Once Tony nodded in response, the older man motioned for Bruce to follow. “Come on, let’s go find our nephew.”

While Pepper focused on comforting May, and David was talking to Happy, Tony tried to take a deep breath and calm down. As much as he wanted to panic, he knew that he’d be no help to anyone like that. He took another deep breath and was about to join Rhodey and Bruce in the labs when Friday spoke up.

_“Boss, it appears the Rogues haven’t left yet and are quite adamant that they need to speak to you.”_

“What in the hell could be so important to them that they need to talk, right now?” Tony growled.

_“Agent Romanov wants you to know that she offers her services to help search for Peter, and that she is working on moving the rest of them to the Compound. The rest of them though, want to urge you to let them help you find Peter.”_

Tony shook his head. "I don’t care what they say, Fri. Tell them if they aren’t out of here in 10 minutes, I’m calling the cops.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Call the cops if they don’t leave, but make sure that the only ones arrested are the ones actually putting up a fight.”

_“Of course, Boss. I’ll let them know.”_

He shook his head again, muttering under his breath. He moved towards May and Pepper, letting his girlfriend know that he was going to join Rhodey and Bruce in the lab, before heading down to continue searching for Peter.

* * *

It’s been three days since then and they’ve made little to no progress. Every lead has ended in a dead end, only working to frustrate everyone more and more. At the final threat of the police being called, poor Gavin was finally able to move the Rogues up to the Compound. The next day though, Tony cracked and called Natasha, asking if she’d come back to help.

She came right away, the only issue was that Clint had tagged along. The archer’s argument was that he knew that Tony would stop at nothing if it was Clint’s kids, and he couldn’t sit by and not help Tony find his own kid. He also knew that this would be the best way to make it up to Tony for everything that happened, and work towards gaining the billionaire’s forgiveness.

Tony was honestly too stressed to really care, and knew that two assassins and spies were better than just one, so he let the dynamic duo alone to use their own methods in searching for Peter.

Still though, nothing has turned up and Tony and May are slowly losing their minds. No ransom or contact has been made, Peter’s phone and watch were either tossed or destroyed, because so far they couldn’t trace them.

Pepper had enough and forced May to rest, and Rhodey tried the same, but Tony couldn’t handle it and that’s why he now found himself hiding in Peter’s room at their house, in between a panic attack and just sobs. Everything he’s held in and pushed down while trying to be strong for May and putting all his focus and energy on finding Peter is now bubbling over, unable to be contained. He held the pillow closer to his chest and cried, unable to do anything but pray that they’d be able to find Peter.


End file.
